In the past, many different types of articles of clothing have been manufactured with different types of materials in a single article, in order to provide the article of clothing with various attributes or features that enhance the usefulness of the article of clothing.
One example of an article of clothing that has been manufactured in the past in this manner is a glove. Gloves have long been used to cover an individual's hand in various circumstances and conditions, such as to provide increased gripping ability to the individual's hands when working or playing sports. Gloves have been modified over the years to provide enhanced gripping ability or functionality to an individual wearing the gloves as a result of various additions made to the glove construction, including but not limited to various components attached to the exterior of the gloves, to the interior of the gloves, and modifications to the materials from which the gloves are manufactured.
One type of material that has more recently been utilized in the manufacture of gloves used for these purposes is a flexible, thermoplastic material, such as polyurethane or silicone rubber, which provides increased functionality, e.g., water resistance, and gripping ability to certain individuals wearing gloves of this type. Other materials can also be utilized in conjunction with the thermoplastic materials in different situations that providing various additional benefits to the wearer, including gloves formed with leather sections as well as sections formed of the thermoplastic materials.
However, while a number of different glove constructions have previously been developed which include modified glove materials, i.e., thermoplastic materials, to enhance the functionality of the gloves, these prior art glove constructions use the thermoplastic materials in conventional manners, such as by attaching the thermoplastic material sections to the remaining section of the glove by either adhering the thermoplastic sections to the exterior and/or interior surfaces of the glove, or utilizing a conventional mechanical attachment means, i.e., stitching, to secure the various sections of the glove to one another. In each case, the thermoplastic sections can easily become separated and/or damaged with regard to the non-thermoplastic sections during normal use of the gloves. Also, the requirements for properly positioning and securing the various sections to one another using the stitching requires a number of steps that greatly increase the overall cost for manufacturing these gloves.
One alternative glove construction that has been developed is disclosed in Bevier U.S. Pat. No. 7,000,257, incorporated by reference herein, which secures various sections of a glove to one another in a stitch-less manner. In one embodiment, this attachment of the sections is accomplished by abutting two adjacent sections the glove construction and overlaying the adjacent edges of the glove sections with a thermoplastic polymer adhesive element that formed a securing “bridge” between the glove sections to hold them together without the need for stitching. The thermoplastic polymer adhesive element also provides an attachment point for a covering glove section that can be secured to the face of the adhesive element opposite the joined glove sections. In a second embodiment, the thermoplastic polymer adhesive element is secured to the exterior surface of one glove section and operates to provide an attachment point for a separate glove section to be located in an overlapping configuration over the glove section to which the thermoplastic polymer adhesive element is attached.
However, due to the need for the separate thermoplastic polymer adhesive element in each embodiment of the glove shown in the '257 patent, the construction of the glove shown is no less complex and does not require any fewer steps than that for the prior art gloves utilizing stitching to secure the various components of the gloves to one another.
As a result, it is desirable to develop a glove construction, as well as a construction for other types of garments or articles of clothing, that includes sections formed of moldable, e.g., thermoplastic materials, to provide all of the benefits attendant therewith, but that is constructed in a manner that allows the moldable section or sections to be attached directly to other sections formed of different moldable or non-moldable materials, thereby reducing the complexity and expense of the construction for the article of clothing.